Valencia stretched their unbeaten run to ten matches, but will feel that they missed an opportunity to solidify third spot in the table after being held to a stalemate by a well-organised Sporting side at the Mestalla.

Los Che failed to break through the Rojiblancos back line, and suffered a double blow after striker Aritz Aduriz injured an ankle late on and is out for a month.

A last-gasp penalty kick from Pablo Pinillos made it two wins out of two for new Racing coach Marcelino, easing their relegation fears.

Neither side looked likely to find an advantage in what was a tepid affair, and all of the action was reserved for the final three minutes of play.

On-loan Spurs winger Giovani dos Santos sprinted in on goal on to be stopped in his tracks by Ivan Marcano inside the area. The defender was duly dismissed and defender Pinillos made no mistake, converting the kick to send Marcelino in raptures and open up a five-point gap to the bottom three.

A double from Javad Nekounam helped Osasuna to a priceless three points and gave coach Jose Luis Mendilibar a debut win in charge of his new club.

The Iranian broke the deadlock on 14 minutes, meeting a Javier Calleja corner to nod down into the net, and after Aldo Duscher was penalised for handball inside the area, he converted the spot kick to double the lead.

Espanyol’s good start to the season has been halted in recent weeks, and they were totally outplayed by Los Rojillos in this encounter. Defender Lolo bundled home a Fernando Soriano knockdown ten minutes from tine to added a third goal.

And Soriano himself got the goal that his performance deserved, slotting home from close range from Masoud Shojaei’s cut-back toensure the points remained at the Reyno De Navarra.

Deportivo goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia proved to be the hero when he headed home an astonishing equaliser in injury time to clinch a share of the points and deny Almeria the win.

In a match low on goalmouth incident, neither side looked likely to make the breakthrough as the visitors sought to hold out for a share of the points.

But then a moment of inspiration arrived from Pablo Piatti. The highly-rated Argentine cut inside at the edge of the area to curl a stunning left-footed strike into the top corner of the net, leaving Aranzubia absolutely helpless.

However, the real drama was reserved for injury time when Aranzubia, heading up for a corner in the final seconds of the game, incredibly headed home the equaliser to stun everyone inside the stadium, and earn a share of the points for the Galacians in the most bizarre fashion possible.

Villarreal’s run of winless matches extended to four outings in all competitions as they failed to overcome bottom side Malaga at El Madrigal.

The Yellow Submarines have saw their almost flawless season stall significantly of late, having suffered 1-0 defeats against Levante and Deportivo, but took an early lead in this clash, Marco Ruben converting from close range after Giuseppe Rossi’s effort was blocked.

Juan Carlos Garrido’s side dominated thereafter but could not land the killer second goal, and the Boquerones took full advantage but grabbing a late equaliser.

Jose Rondon ran clear with eight minutes remaining and slid the ball across to Sebastian Fernandez, who made no mistake, meaning both sides were forced to settle for a share of the points.

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Almeria clinched what could be a vital result in their battle against relegation by edging to a 1-0 victory over Deportivo in Andalucia.

In a match low on goalmouth incident, neither side looked likely to make the breakthrough as the visitors sought to hold out for a share of the points.

But then a moment of inspiration arrived from Pablo Piatti. The highly-rated Argentine cut inside at the edge of the area to curl a stunning left-footed strike into the top corner of the net, leaving Daniel Aranzubia absolutely helpless.

The win edges Jose Luis Oltra’s side to within a single point of safety, while Deportivo well and truly remain part of the scrap to avoid the drop.